1970_Grand_Prix_(tennis)

1970 Grand Prix (tennis)

1970 Grand Prix (tennis)

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The 1970 Pepsi-Cola ILTF Grand Prix was a tennis circuit administered by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) which served as a forerunner to the current Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour.[1] It was the inaugural edition of the Grand Prix circuit and consisted of men's tournaments recognised by the ILTF.[lower-alpha 1] The creation of the Grand Prix circuit, on an experimental basis during its first year, was announced in April 1970 by the president of the ILTF, Ben Barnett.[2] It was the brainchild of Jack Kramer, former tennis promoter and winner of the Wimbledon and US championships, and was aimed at countering the influence of commercial promoters, particularly Lamar Hunt and his World Championship Tennis circuit and George MacCall's National Tennis League.[3][4]

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The tournaments were graded in one of three categories which determined the number of ranking points available: Class A, comprising the three Grand Slam tournaments, Class 1 and Class 2. The Pepsi-Cola Masters and Davis Cup Final are included in this calendar but did not count towards the Grand Prix. In addition to the tournament prize money a bonus pool of $150,000 was available for the top 20 ranked players. The bonus pool was jointly funded by Pepsi-Cola as title sponsor and the participating tournaments which reserved 10% of their prize money.[5][6] Cliff Richey earned $25,000 bonus as the winner of the first Grand Prix circuit.[7] At the end of the season the top six ranked players qualified for a Masters round-robin tournament held in Tokyo which was won by Stan Smith.

All open tennis tournaments were eligible to be included in the Grand Prix circuit provided they committed to not paying any management fees to commercial organizations with players under contract. Originally the Italian Championships, played in April in Rome, was part of the Grand Prix calendar but it was withdrawn during the tournament when it became known that they had paid management fees to the competing World Championship Tennis organization.[8]

Schedule

Key
Class A tournaments
Grand Prix Masters
Group 1 tournaments
Group 2 tournaments
Team events

April

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May

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June

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July

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August

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September

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October

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November

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December

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Grand Prix point system

The tournaments listed above were divided into three categories. Class A consisted of the Grand Slams while the other tournaments were divided into Class 1 and Class 2. Points were allocated based on these groups and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. Ties were settled by the number of tournaments played. The points allocation is listed below:

Class A
  • Champion: 15
  • Runner-up: 10
  • Semifinalist: 7
  • Quarterfinalist: 5
  • 9th – 16th: 3
  • 17th – 32nd: 2
Class 1
  • Champion: 11
  • Runner-up: 7
  • Semifinalist: 5
  • 5th – 8th: 3
  • 9th – 16th: 1
Class 2
  • Champion: 8
  • Runner-up: 6
  • Semifinalist: 4
  • 5th – 8th: 2
  • 9th – 16th: 1

Grand Prix rankings

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List of tournament winners

The list of winners and number of singles titles won (Grand Slams and Masters in bold text), alphabetically by last name:

The list of winners and number of doubles titles won (Grand Slams and Masters in bold text), last name alphabetically:

The list of winners and number of mixed doubles titles won (Grand Slams and Masters in bold text), alphabetically by last name:

The following players won their first singles title in 1970:

See also

Notes

  1. A Grand Prix circuit for women was introduced in 1971.

References

General
  • "1970 Grand Prix". Association of Tennis Professionals.
Specific
  1. "How it All Began". ATPWorldTour.com. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  2. "Tennis Gets A Grand Prix". The Sydney Morning Herald. Apr 9, 1970.
  3. "Grand Prix Experiment In Tennis Is Planned". The Morning Record. Apr 9, 1970. p. 12.
  4. "Obituaries – Jack Kramer". The Daily Telegraph. London. 14 Sep 2009.
  5. "Tennis Assn. Ponders $200,000 Grand Prix". No. The Deseret News. UPI. Jun 23, 1970.
  6. "Tennis Grand Prix picks up more money". Ellensburg Daily Record. UPI. Aug 14, 1970.
  7. "Richey Clinches Grand Prix Title". The New York Times. Nov 25, 1970.
  8. John Barrett, ed. (1971). World of Tennis '71. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 133–136. ISBN 978-0-362-00091-7.

Further reading

  • Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book (2nd ed.). New York: New Chapter Press. ISBN 978-0-942257-70-0.

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